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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29091090">(stop fighting) and know our love is real</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Littlebarchie07/pseuds/Littlebarchie07'>Littlebarchie07</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Truth [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Riverdale (TV 2017)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Canon Compliant, F/M, barchie</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 12:09:27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,019</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29091090</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Littlebarchie07/pseuds/Littlebarchie07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>3 times Archie starts coming to terms with potentially losing Betty and the 1 time he realises they will always be connected.</p>
<p>Or</p>
<p>Short snippets of Archie Andrews thinking  he’s going to lose Betty, only at the end she chooses him.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Archie Andrews/Betty Cooper</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Truth [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2134248</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>47</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>(stop fighting) and know our love is real</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Companion piece to my season 5 canon compliant fic: <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29048619">(stop pretending) and let our love begin</a>, and second part of The Truth series. I recommend reading that piece first :)</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Archie Andrews is extremely confused and doesn’t really understand what is going on as he’s called over by his ex-girlfriend, when he gets to the graduation gown fitting. Veronica comes up to him, planting a kiss on his lips asking him to play along and his eyebrows arch. She’s pretending everything is okay, like he hasn’t betrayed her, like they haven’t broken up. </p>
<p>He doesn’t really get it. </p>
<p>From the very beginning he <em> knows </em> that nobody betrays Veronica Lodge. Yet here he is, walking around, getting off scot free, after she humiliated herself by singing a song he wrote about someone else. And here she is, with her hands wrapped around his bicep so hard, clinging to him desperately. </p>
<p>It’s not the same as pretending to date your best friend. It’s nowhere near as comforting and it is anything but easy.</p>
<p>Pretending to date your best friend wasn’t supposed to be easy, and it wasn’t supposed to feel so right. But it did, and now he’s here in this situation and he knows he can’t do it.</p>
<p>His heart speeds up and he feels a rush of hot white anger crawl underneath his skin. His jaw is set and his mouth is a thin line. She’s acting clueless, just standing there, leaning against Jughead, whose hand holds and strokes her neck in a way that is supposed to be affectionate, but to him, comes across as possessive. </p>
<p>He hates it. </p>
<p>He hates Betty’s words more as her mouth moves and she has the audacity to ask him if something is wrong. </p>
<p>What a joke. She <em> knows </em> what’s wrong. She <em> knows </em> him better than anyone. </p>
<p>He never snaps at her, but he can’t hold his tongue and he isn’t surprised when he bites out:</p>
<p>“Are you kidding me Betty. What isn’t wrong?!”</p>
<p>She makes a face, and he knows he’s hurt her. The white hot rage continues to build inside him and his fists clench as Jughead widens his eyes at his tone. </p>
<p>Archie is not exactly a violent person, but at this moment, he wants to punch Jughead in the face. It isn’t Jughead's fault, but Archie can’t help it.</p>
<p>He breathes through his nose as Veronica drags him away. He’s partially grateful for it because he was either going to deck Jughead or shake Betty senseless. He is so fed up with the way she’s always pretending. </p>
<p>He’s done acting as if they don’t have feelings for each other.</p>
<p>Veronica talks about how pretending is the only option, and he wants to laugh. </p>
<p>“For you maybe, I’m getting the hell out of here.”</p>
<p>He’s done with pretending.</p>
<p>***</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Graduation comes and goes in a haze. Archie doesn’t join the ceremony, and he knows that his dad would be disheartened by his choices.</p>
<p>He misses his dad so much.</p>
<p>His heart feels like it’s shattered into a thousand pieces and nothing he can do can patch it up. There is a hole inside his chest, an endless pitch of darkness. It’s filled with rage, guilt, and disappointment. There is no ray of light. He watches the only thing that can bring a sense of warmth within him walk across the stage and collect her diploma, beaming with pride. He grins, and for the first time in a while, he feels something other than guilt and despair. </p>
<p>He is so proud of her, and he wants to shout and cheer for her from the back of the room, but he keeps silent and watches her, revelling in the moment of silence, the moment of peace he feels within his brain. </p>
<p>It’s just for a moment.</p>
<p>He watches her blue/green eyes as they scan the crowd. A little part of him hopes she is looking for him. He does see her face drop a little and the light dim from her eyes, but then they land on Jug. </p>
<p><em> Of course. </em> </p>
<p>Archie pulls his head back round and slumps against the wall. </p>
<p>It’s time for him to get the hell out of this place. </p>
<p>Riverdale isn’t home anymore. Nowhere is home now his dad is gone, and the people he loves will all be leaving soon too. </p>
<p>Head down, shoulders slumped, he leaves Riverdale High and heads back to his place; a house that feels lonely and cold. </p>
<p>He walks up the stairs and falls onto his bed. He succumbs to sobs and wills the sleep he has been fighting for days, to overtake him. </p>
<p>His dreams carry him back to long summer days, his dad’s bear hugs and Betty Cooper’s angelic laugh and perfect pink lips as they share milkshake after milkshake together.</p>
<p>***</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He’s heard on the grapevine - the grapevine being Cheryl Blossom, that Betty is leaving in a week. He hasn’t got the energy to go over and talk to her. He thinks that if she can’t get in touch with him, then why should he bother too? </p>
<p>He wants to though. He misses her. She is still his best friend, and she is still the person he wants to talk to about everything. Anything. </p>
<p>He wants to text her and ask her to go to Pops with him, to share milkshakes, and laugh about stupid things, but they don’t do that anymore. </p>
<p>They haven’t done that in a long time, and they haven’t spoken in weeks. </p>
<p>The last exchange plays heavy on his mind. It was a simple congratulations, after he ran into her coming out of Pops. It was the night of graduation. </p>
<p>She didn’t ask where he was that day, and he didn’t tell her that he was actually there. The words were stuck in his throat and he wanted to ask how she was then, he could tell she was sad. But Betty Copper being anything but a disappointment, faked enthusiasm about upcoming summer plans. There was no mention of leaving, no mention of a goodbye, and then Jughead came and pulled her away.</p>
<p>His curtains have remained shut because the end of summer is too bright, and he hates looking over to her window, into the bedroom he knows will soon be empty. He throws another punch. He’s long stopped wearing his gloves when he trains. He enjoys the searing pain of the friction burns against his knuckles as they pound the leather fabric. It’s how he knows he’s alive, how he knows he’s here. </p>
<p>He is here.</p>
<p>And she is not.</p>
<p>Something pulls him over to the window, maybe it’s because he needs to let in some air, he shakes off the desire to see her. </p>
<p>As he moves the curtain an inch, letting the first ray of sunshine into his dark room, his eyes meet the figure of Jughead Jones.</p>
<p>Archie promptly moves himself away from the window. He swings his fist with full force, and stares into the empty hallway from his open bedroom door.</p>
<p>***</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She’s only got three days left. He has been counting down on his calendar and she still hasn’t said anything. They still haven’t spoken. That’s it. She really is going to leave him without saying goodbye.</p>
<p>He’s not worth saying goodbye to.</p>
<p>Maybe he should go first. The Naval  Academy accepted him, and his bus is set to deploy on September 1st. </p>
<p>He could be packed within the hour, on the road in two. </p>
<p>It’s definitely a thought. </p>
<p>Mary calls him down for dinner, and they share idle chat. He’s not happy here. He needs to leave. He tells his Mom his plan, and she nods in agreement. </p>
<p>Maybe it’s time to start fresh.</p>
<p>The packing doesn’t take long, but what drags time on is the pictures he keeps looking at. The pictures of him and Betty, as kids, growing up. </p>
<p>The picture of Veronica that was perfectly framed on his desk has long been put away, but he never thought he would be parting with these childhood memories.</p>
<p>He pins the photos back up and sinks to the chair and continues to stare up at the smiling faces of himself and Betty, frozen in another place and time. A happier time. A carefree time. </p>
<p>He thinks about it all then. </p>
<p>When did the happiness fade, when did their childhood innocence become so tragic and dark? When did their friendship become so skewed? </p>
<p>His eyes feel droopy, and he looks to the clock. It’s a little after 2am and he groans. He knows he won’t be leaving tonight. He won’t be leaving any time soon. </p>
<p>He won’t leave until she does. He cannot be the one to say goodbye first.</p>
<p>His phone vibrates and it makes him jump. He frowns. It’s probably a news notification, but he’s surprised when he reaches for it.</p>
<p>It’s a text from Betty.</p>
<p>He knows she was up a little later than she usually is, because he saw her light shut off around 12:30. </p>
<p>The text is simple and in an instant the initial confusion he feels is replaced with a slither of hope.</p>
<p>She wants to talk. </p>
<p>He reads the text again, before he nods to himself and replies. </p>
<p>For the first time in what feels like years, he moves over to the window, and pulls back the curtain. She’s already standing across from him, her phone in her hand. It takes her a moment but then she looks up at him. </p>
<p>A rush of warmth fills his chest as she catches his eye in the pale moonlight and instinctively, he presses the call button and holds his phone to his ear.</p>
<p>She picks up on the second ring. Her hello is breathless and her voice is everything he needs.</p>
<p>“It’s nice to hear your voice.” He replies because it really is.</p>
<p>He thinks he hears a little whimper come from her and then she tells him that she has something to say. Of course he knows what she wants to say. </p>
<p>She’s leaving. </p>
<p>“It’s okay. I don’t think I’d be able to say goodbye either.” He finds himself saying, because it’s the truth. </p>
<p>Where do they start with saying goodbye? For so long it had just been the two of them. As they grew up it was often hard to find where Betty began and he ended. </p>
<p>They had 13 years worth of hellos, it couldn’t end with one simple goodbye.</p>
<p>She says that isn’t what she wants to tell him, and he finds it funny because even though they haven’t spoken in weeks, she’s still being mysterious, somewhat cryptic, such is how Betty Cooper is when she is trying to find the right words to say something.</p>
<p>He sees her smile at him then and his heart beats faster. He didn’t know how much he needed to see her smile at him like that. </p>
<p>There is a pause, and he stands there, stunned. It takes a second for the words she so freely spoke, to reach his brain. </p>
<p>“I’m in love with you. I thought it was time I told you.”</p>
<p>The grin tugs against the side of his mouth, a dark cloud lifts.</p>
<p>“What took you so long?” He quips, because really, it has been such a long time coming. </p>
<p>“I’m done pretending. I can’t say how this is going to work, but right now I don’t care. I love you, Arch. I have for the last 10 years. It’s real.”</p>
<p>He’s smiling so big and it’s the first time in months he’s felt that happiness can coincide with the emotions he’s been fighting. </p>
<p>“Is it too late to ask if you want to go to Pops?” She gabbles and Archie shakes his head.</p>
<p>“I always want to go to Pops with you, Betty. I can meet you in 10 minutes?”</p>
<p>She nods back at him, she’s chewing her nails. He can see her thinking. Her brain is already in overdrive, wondering if she’s making a mistake. </p>
<p>So he says the one thing he’s been wanting to say for years, something he knows will ease her mind.</p>
<p>“I love you, Betty.” </p>
<p>He watches the smile he’s missed so much lighten her entire face. The smile he’s been dreaming about for months. “Be ready in 10 minutes.”</p>
<p>
  <em>fin</em>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I am not very good at delving into characters, so Archie may be a little OOO, but I tried my best and I had fun writing these little snippets so kudos and comments are always appreciative! Love xo</p></blockquote></div></div>
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